Arashel, Angel of the Lord
by waywardwillow
Summary: Arashel has been placed under the charge of the archangel Gabriel. Things change drastically for her when dissension among the archangels threatens war in heaven.


"Look! There it is again!" Arashel, a tiny red-haired angel pointed eagerly at something on the ground. A tiny beam of rainbow light lay spread across the cream-colored sidewalk, flashing in and out of view as the sunlight spilled through the trees. From behind her, Gabriel tilted a glass prism so that the rainbow beam widened. Arashel squealed with delight and put her hand in the way of the light so that it too sparkled like the rainbow. Gabriel chuckled good-naturedly, moving the prism so that the rainbow raced around the sidewalk. Still unaware that her guardian was the one creating the phenomenon, Arashel chased the light all over the sidewalk, pulling smiles from the faces of any angels who passed by the spectacle. Finally, a cloud found its way in front of the sun and little Arashel's fun was cut short. Pouting slightly, she stood up, dusted herself off, and reached a tiny hand up to grasp Gabriel's outstretched fingers.

"Make it come back," she pleaded. "I wasn't finished having fun."

Gabriel swept Arashel up in his arms and swung her around before putting her up on his shoulders. "Ara," he chided, "you can't always get what you want."

"I know…but—,"

"You remember what our Father taught you."

Ara nodded. Taking a deep breath, she recited, "Do all things without grumbling or complaining."

"That's right." Gabriel reached up and tousled Ara's curly hair. "You've been learning your lessons well; you know what that means."

Ara's face lit up with a bright smile at Gabriel's words. Clinging tightly to his neck, she waited expectantly for Gabriel to follow through on his word. As promised, their surroundings slowly morphed into a beautiful garden, flooded with rainbow light. Sensing how anxious Ara was to begin playing, Gabriel took her down off his shoulders and set her gently on the ground. Ara sped off down one of the forest paths, chasing a blue butterfly, but she quickly stopped mid-stride and turned around to race back toward Gabriel. Throwing her arms around him, Ara kissed Gabriel quickly on the cheek. "Thank you for making me another playground," she said softly before returning to her pursuit of the butterfly.

After almost a half hour of chasing the butterfly, Ara finally succeeded in getting it to land on her finger. She was in the process of studying it carefully when the sound of someone walking came from her right. "Gabriel?" she whispered. Cupping her hand to protect the butterfly, Ara cautiously went to explore the bushes beside the path. Peering carefully past a large tropical leaf, Ara came face to face with a pair of soft blue eyes. Her eyes widened; this wasn't Gabriel and no one else was supposed to be able to get into her private playground.

"Hi. I'm Samandriel." The newcomer reached out his small hand toward Ara. Startled by the unexpected movement, the butterfly took flight, leaving Ara's hand free to return the handshake.

"My name's Arashel, but you can call me Ara." There was a brief pause as the two young angels studied each other. Ara finally broke the silence, asking, "Would you like to play on my playground?"

Samandriel nodded and waited eagerly for Ara to lead him around. The two of them spent the entire afternoon racing along the dirt paths, climbing up the tropical trees, racing after various insects, and lying on the banks of a river with their bare feet dipped in the water. As the afternoon began to wane, Gabriel found the two of them at the riverside.

"I see you found a friend," he observed.

Ara jumped to her feet, pulling Samandriel along with her. "This is Samandriel. He's an angel too. He's new like me." She turned to Samandriel. "This is Gabriel. He's an archangel and my big brother."

"Well, Samandriel, we'd better be getting you home. Who are you staying with?"

"Castiel."

"Ah, yes. Castiel." Gabriel grabbed each of the young angel's hands in one of his own before leading them out of the tropical playground. After they had exited, the forest dissolved, disappearing into the earth.

"Castiel, you know you aren't supposed to let your charge run off on his own," Gabriel rebuked when the three of them stepped into Castiel's room.

Before Castiel had a chance to respond, Samandriel sped off toward his room with Ara following just behind. After they were out of earshot, Castiel shrugged and met Gabriel's piercing gaze. "I was not neglecting my duties, Gabriel," he promised. "Samandriel always wanted his own place to play, but you know that sort of illusion is not my specialty."

"So you saw mine and decided to let him play under my watch?"

"That was the idea. He appeared to have fun with your charge."

Gabriel nodded. "He and Ara hit it off very well from the start." Seeing a question crossing Castiel's face, Gabriel added, "If you're willing to watch them half the time, I don't see a problem with letting them play together on a regular basis."

"Why don't you watch them all the time?" Castiel asked. "After all, it is your illusions that they both love so much. What could I possibly give them?"

"Castiel, you don't give yourself enough credit." Gabriel took a seat on a bench and propped his feet up on a window ledge. "And if we are completely honest with ourselves, I won't be around here for much longer."

Castiel looked strangely at Gabriel; if Gabriel thought his words made sense, he was sadly mistaken.

"I see our petty quarrels haven't made it down to the ground troops," Gabriel mused. "You'll understand soon. I just need to know that Ara will have somewhere safe to stay and have someone to watch out for her."

"Of course, Gabriel." Castiel watched with curiosity as Gabriel stood up to leave.

Turning around one last time, Gabriel said, "Just remember she loves rainbows and tropical forests and it'll all be fine. I've got a few things to check on; it'll be a few days before I'm back."

"What do I tell Ara?"

"Tell her I had family issues to deal with." There was a flash of light and a flurry of wings and then Castiel found himself alone in the room.

Ara and Samandriel came racing down the hallway and careened into Castiel, nearly knocking him over. They were giggling uncontrollably and even Castiel wasn't able to hold a straight face for long.

The smile on Ara's face faltered when she couldn't find her guardian. "Where's Gabriel?" she asked.

"He had family issues to deal with," Cas replied.

"Oh." Ara's lower lip quivered. "He didn't tell me goodbye."

Castiel put a reassuring hand on Ara's shoulder. "He'll be back in a few days. Don't worry."

"Let's go play, Ara," Samandriel encouraged. Within a few minutes, the two of them were back to laughing and having fun, Gabriel's absence almost completely forgotten.

After five months without word from Gabriel, Castiel was really starting to worry. There had been rumors of dissent among the archangels and he could only assume that was what Gabriel was dealing with. God had recently created the humans and there was a huge civil war brewing between Lucifer, who wanted nothing to do with the humans and preferred them dead, and Michael, who was willing to welcome and protect them as God's children.

One afternoon, a sharp knock sounded at Castiel's door. He answered it and was nearly knocked down as Gabriel roughly forced his way into the house.

"Don't let anyone else in while I'm here," he ordered.

"Are the rumors true?" Castiel asked.

Gabriel sank down into a chair. "Unfortunately. My big brothers seem more than happy to start a family feud over those new humans. Now they've moved down into the regular troops to try to recruit angels for their respective causes."

"And whose side are you on?"

"I refuse to be part of a war between my brothers. That's why I came here; I need to say goodbye to Ara before I leave."

As if on cue, Ara and Samandriel burst into the entryway, chasing each other in a fierce game of tag. Ara skidded to a halt to avoid hitting Castiel, and, in the process, laid eyes on Gabriel. She stood, stunned, not sure if her eyes were deceiving her.

"Hello, Ara," Gabriel said, breaking the silence.

"Gabriel!" Ara leapt onto Gabriel's lap and threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. "I was afraid you weren't coming back," she whispered into his ear.

Gabriel held Ara close to him, gently stroking her back. "That's why I came, Ara. I'm having lots of problems with my brothers and I'm going to have to leave."

Ara pulled back to make eye contact with Gabriel. "Leave? _Heaven_?"

"It's the safest thing for me."

Ara's big brown eyes filled with tears. "But who's supposed to be my big brother now? Can't I come with you?"

"Ara, I wish you could, but you're a young angel. You give off a strong aura that any half-witted cherub could track. You'd put us both in danger."

A tear fell down Ara's cheek and Gabriel wiped it off gently with his finger. "Castiel is going to take care of you. You don't have anything to worry about."

"But I want you, Gabriel," Ara sniffed. "It won't be the same without you here."

Gabriel placed his hands on Ara's shoulders. "Do all things without grumbling or complaining."

Ara managed a small smile. "Will I ever see you again?"

"I'm sure you will. Once you're old enough to go down on Earth and walk among the humans, you'll find your way to me somehow. _But_," Gabriel lay emphasis on the word, "when you do find me, unless we meet alone, you can't call me by my name. I'll be in hiding, remember."

Nodding, Ara planted a kiss on Gabriel's cheek. "Be safe," she whispered. Climbing down from Gabriel's lap, Ara walked over to where Castiel stood and reached her hand up to grasp his. A bright light shone from Gabriel's clenched fist. He stood up and walked over to Ara, holding something in his hand.

"Here's something to remember me by," he explained. Opening his hand, Gabriel handed Ara a necklace. It was a silver chain and the charm on the end was a charm in the shape of a butterfly, filled in with shimmering blue. Ruffling Ara's hair one last time, Gabriel stepped out of the house and vanished in a brilliant flash of white light.


End file.
